Rajnath unveils Gandhi’s statue at Delhi cant on Gandhi Jayanti

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi Cantonment and paid tribute to the Father of the Nation on Gandhi Jayanti. He said that Gandhi was a rare person who wielded so much influence over people without occupying formal positions of power.

The statue of Mahatma Gandhi was erected by the Directorate of Defence Estates on his 150th birth anniversary celebrations at Sri Nagesh Garden in Delhi Cantt. Singh also paid tributes to Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri who shares his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi.

Singh recalls Mahatma's mantra on Gandhi Jayanti

Addressing the gathering on Gandhi Jayanti, Singh said Mahatma Gandhi’s political programmes had economic, social and cultural messages as well for the people at large. Referring to the Champaran Movement, the minister said that Mahatma Gandhi, while fighting for the rights of exploited indigo farmers, urged them to work for the cleanliness of their surroundings and villages. For him that was as important as freedom.

He said that the cleanliness ideas and works of Mahatma Gandhi were made into a people’s movement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The result is there for everyone to see. Coverage of toilets in households has increased from 37 per cent in 2014 to 98 per cent now. In all, a total of 11 crore toilets has been made in the last five years," he said.

'Stop use of single-use plastic'

Singh urged people to extend cleanliness programmes to cover environment protection and to not use single-use plastic bags as these are extremely harmful to nature. Instead, he advocated usage of cloth bags which are environment-friendly. He said it will also generate employment for the poor. He termed saving rivers from pollution is like saving our civilisation.

The minister also administered Swacchta oath to people present at the venue. He later planted a sapling while taking part in ‘Swachhta Hi Sewa’ campaign.